OUR VIEW: Investigation by the state Department of Education shows what we've known all along: Birmingham Board of Education meddles where it shouldn't

State Supt. Tommy Bice and Board president Edward Maddox at a Birmingham Board of Education meeting back in July. (The Birmingham News/Bernard Troncale)

Nobody should be surprised -- except, perhaps, inept members of the Birmingham Board of Education -- that an investigation by the state Department of Education found this:

"The BBOE's micromanagement is both rampant and flagrant."

Those are the words of former state Superintendent Ed Richardson, the man the state appointed chief financial officer of Birmingham schools during an ongoing state intervention.

Richardson has led the state investigative team as well, working since mid-April investigating the school district's finances, academics and board governance. Even as the investigation continued, the Birmingham Board of Education demonstrated its micromanagement and dysfunction time after time.

"The very fact that the state superintendent of education is having, for the first time in state history, to repeatedly conduct a meeting of a local board of education speaks for itself," Richardson added.

Among the findings of Richardson's investigation, as reported by News staff writer Jeremy Gray:

-- In 2011, board members made numerous calls to two law firms, without informing or contacting the superintendent, which is in violation of board policy.

-- Board members tried to fire the superintendent. "In this manner, the board failed to fulfill its responsibilities and confirmed that some members of the board were acting behind the scenes with limited information to undermine the superintendent."

-- Board members often "direct caustic comments" at fellow board members, and there have been physical altercations.

-- There have been "extended radio interviews during which vitriolic racial comments and attacks on the superintendent were recorded."

-- "The rude and inconsiderate attempt to humiliate the superintendent during a July 17, 2012, board meeting, to deny the state team entrance into the central office building, failure to acknowledge the authority of the state superintendent and, finally, to repeatedly fail to approve the required financial statement has led to a less than satisfactory opening of school."

Richardson also said he could provide many examples of "attempts to influence staff decisions relative to purchases, hiring of principals and coaches, overriding the superintendent during a school closure presentation, and attempting, as an individual board member, to influence a construction project."

The serious nature of the problems is underscored by the warning from Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of AdvancEd, an umbrella of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation agency. Elgart has asked for a response from the district by Oct. 1, or the district's accreditation could be in jeopardy. That would have far-reaching consequences that would directly affect students trying to get scholarships and college admission.

The denial of some board members, specifically Emanuel Ford and Alana Edwards, does not help the school system move forward. Ford maintains the school board has been "falsely accused of fiscal mismanagement; while we have been individually singled out as trouble makers and while we have been accused of being incompetent." Anybody who has just casually observed this school board knows its dysfunction reaches epic proportions.

Edwards, meanwhile, said the report had her "blood pressure rising" and asked why Richardson did not first share it with the board. Edwards has never fully understood the public accountability the school board has. She and her fellow board members work for the public, not the other way around. Richardson did exactly as he should have.

To his credit, board President Edward Maddox asked that board members be trained as soon as possible. Training had been offered previously, but board members declined to participate. Now, with Maddox's urging, perhaps board members can learn what their responsibility as a school board truly is.

It's certainly not meddling in the day-to-day operations of the city school system. Sadly, it appears some school board members still don't understand even that.